aunt, and my cousin, not to mention the army of
people Bunny brought to the house to prepare for the
wedding ceremony and reception, occupied too much
space on the stage of my attention for me to think
about Linden. He withdrew to the sanctity of his
studio, claiming he was down to the actual creation of
a work now and had to give it all of his time and
energy. He kept the studio door locked and some days
didn't even come out to eat. Joan and Mary were
instructed to bring his food to him, knock, and wait
for him to open the door.
I saw how much this troubled Mother. so I tried
to diminish her concern by assuring her that it was a
good thing for him to have something he loved
occupying his time. Meanwhile. I couldn't help
trembling every time I thought about what his
painting would be like. If he dared do a picture of me in the nude. Thatcher would be more upset than I would be, and no matter how good were Linden's intentions, it would in the end cause more problems for us than we presently suffered. A negative reaction on our parts would surely send Linden into a deeper depression as well. Sometimes. when I moved through the house and passed his studio door. I found
I was holding my breath.
And then, it seemed to me, the famous second
shoe dropped.
.
The women of the Club d' Amour had been so
confident when they predicted Thatcher would insist
on setting up a prenuptial agreement between us. I had
nearly forgotten all about that. and when I did think of
it once or twice. I smiled to myself because we were
so close to our wedding date and he had not yet even
broached the subject.
Then, five days before our wedding, he paused
at the door as he left for work and, as if just